Is it possible to find out the best subwoofer under 200? Are such low-cost devices able to deliver good sound with deep and clear bass? Moreover, some people call into question their relevance. Well, let's get this sorted out.
First, any high-quality sub allows hearing deep tones in music and the lowest of vocals. Secondly, not all home speakers are powerful enough to produce a loud sound that’s why they need an external booster to fill the medium and large room. Besides, the majority of speakers’ built-in woofers are up to five inches only that are not able to produce satisfactory bass.
The best budget subwoofer is able to add a bass, to make the soundstage deeper and dynamics rock harder, as well as enhance the spaciousness. So, one can get the immersive audio experience with neither going to the concerts/cinemas nor breaking the budget on expensive sound equipment.
The subs are used when setting a 2.1 audio system (two satellite speakers and one sub) and 5.1 home theater system (five speakers plus one sub to handle LFE). To make them sound perfect, take care of acoustically rich room. Otherwise, bass performance will be very poor.
To choose the best affordable subwoofer can be a tricky game. However, there’s one win-win tip – high-quality models aren’t attracting attention to themselves. They let the music sound harmoniously and enhance lows with regard to other frequencies. Besides, some worthwhile units are introduced below.
Subwoofer Under $200 Reviews
Polk Audio PSW10: Dedicated Unit for a Low-frequency Punch
This model is designed with the wooden cabinet, well-polished surface, and double grille. It’s produced either in black or cherry colored vinyl. The entire construction is developed to withstand resonance and standing waves. It has baffles and internal bracing, as well as four feet to raise the sub off the floor in order to avoid overheating. The PSW10 has a downward firing port that explains so high bass impact at this humble size.
This sub comes with a built-in high-current amplifier, a low-pass filter to prevent buzzing and vibrations even at a high volume. Its 10-inch driver is made of high-quality polymer to make bass reproduction deeper. The unit is activated automatically when a whole system is turned on.
The sub is versatile because it’s fitted with the line-level and speaker level inputs that mean the opportunity to make easy connections with any type of home theater or audio system (2.1, 5.1, and 7.1 configurations). However, this model can ensure distortion-free and tight lows for entry-level home entertainment.
The sub is good for watching movies. It makes the dialogs more expressive. It’s worthy to be called the best budget subwoofer because it’s able to shake the room when having just 50W RMS. It also provides great musical performance (tightness and accuracy).
- The great immersive effect when playing first-person-shooters on the PS4.
- Flawless performance even with a frequency as low as 35 Hz.
- It doesn’t include an LFE input that makes it necessary to handle low frequencies effects via a variable crossover and volume knob.
- It’s developed to the small and medium spaces only.
If looking for the best home subwoofer under 200, spare the time for this model that comes on the backdrop of other similar devices with its 15-inch driver and 150W of efficient power. Such a huge driver provides perfect air movement in the space to ensure massive low. So, it’s able to deliver deep and clear bass in the room up to 400 or 500 square feet and to work with large bookshelf or tower speakers just per dollar spent.
The model comes with RCA and speaker-level inputs to hook it up to an AVR and to a stereo amp respectively. Besides, the unit doesn’t require any special impedance from the speakers since it’s compatible with any of them.
This model is able to respond down to 23 Hz. However, the frequency response starts rolling off quickly around 30 Hz. The sub plays deep and tight bass. It plays well with both music and home theater without any port noise. It’s also subtle and not boomy. However, a slight difference between ultra lows and mid lows is audible – the first ones sound better than the latter.
- The sub looks stylish with its curved vertical edges, removable grille, and high-quality vinyl finish.
- It’s extremely loud.
- It’s necessary to tune a sub every time for every specific album to make it sound good.
This model is one of the cheap subwoofers that is noted for its good value for money. The sub has an unobtrusive design with the textured black vinyl finish. Besides, it really does its job, making a good bass. Certainly, it’s not the most powerful, the deepest, but it’s clear enough, and not overwhelmed that is a great achievement for the sub within this price range.
The level of bass quality depends on the type of audio. For example, when listening to a CD, the low frequencies sound clear without noticeable distortions. However, the sound is a little muddy at high volume. Since being connected to an AVR or an amp, some tweaking on the receiver are required to calibrate bass and make the sub blend in the work of other home theater/stereo components.
The sub is fitted with an 8-inch woofer and has a built-in amp with 80W of power. It’s developed for small spaces and sounds good being hooked up to both a home theater system and a stereo amp. It’s a downward-firing model to enhance bass. The unit is easy to set up and allows sculpting lows to one’s liking via the gain and crossover.
- It takes a second to reach the desired volume at a given note.
- Extends down to 40 Hz and below fast and flawlessly.
- It’s difficult to find the right placement for a sub. For example, when installing it on the bookshelf, it allows pulling in some more tightness and detail in the bass sounds but at the cost of losing some midrange clarity.
- It rattles a little bit if turning it way up.
It’s a powered and ported home theater subwoofer under 200 with the continuous power of 75W that makes it an appropriate device for the small rooms only. In other words, if sitting about 6–8 feet from the sub, deep and loud bass is audible. When getting about 10–15 feet away, the majority of the bass rolls off. The unit features extremely high peak power (250W), but it relates to such short episodic bursts as a banging bass drum or movie explosion.
Its response range seems large – from 30 up to 250 Hz. However, the recommended low threshold starts from 20 Hz. It means that this model isn’t able to reproduce the lowest audible frequencies.
The sub is made of MDF with a black ash finish that has a decent density, but it’s not resistant to scratches and other mechanical damage. However, it features RFL bass reflex design to avoid a consequence of resonance. A versatile budget subwoofer adds good bass to either musical material or movies being connected to any type of the receiver. The sub comes with the extended excursion cone to provide precise responses.
The device sounds dynamic and musical at the same time. It performs equally well when watching videos, movies, or music programming.
- It can be used with a 110V power supply with an external serviceable fuse.
- Provides full bass throughout a room without hollow sounding.
- It has 2-inch feet in the shape of cones that are made of hard plastic and can damage the flooring. Rubber feet would be great.
Pioneer SW-8MK2 : Great Bass and Good Connectivity
The sub comes in matte black ash, it’s very compact and not weighty at all (just 20 pounds). It features rather powerful built-in amp (100W of continuous power) and down-firing construction to ensure bass clarity. It also made with an 8-inch woofer and a bass port on the front panel. A full set of control buttons and a crossover are on its rear panel.
It can be connected to other components of the acoustics in different ways. For example, one can use RCA cable to hook it up directly to a receiver. It’s also possible to engage speaker connectors.
The sub has a response range from 38 to 150 Hz that is rather limited but typical for budget models. The unit is able to produce all its sonic spatial opportunities and demonstrates great bass extension. It surprisingly enhances soundstage dimensions and improves image density.
- The low end is smooth and defined.
- It possible to run the sub just for 10 hours (plenty of models need from 30 up to 50 hours).
- The sub is very dependable of its placement. For example, putting it in the middle of the room or along the wall cannot do much good. When standing in the corner of the room. It fills the whole space with good deep bass. However, the layout of the room is meaningful.
Detachable grilles: Nominal output power (RMS), W: 50 Maximal output power (RMS), W: 100 Driver quantity: 1 Driver placement: front panel 
Detachable grilles: Nominal output power (RMS), W: 150 Maximal output power (RMS), W: 150 Driver quantity: 1 Driver placement: front panel 
Detachable grilles: Nominal output power (RMS), W: 80 Maximal output power (RMS), W: 80 Driver quantity: 1 Driver placement: front panel 
